It is "better" not because it is technologically superior, it is "better" because it is compatible with all the flash accessories out there.

If Minolta's "Auto-Lock" shoe were not proprietary and were widely adapted by all other manufacturers, there would be no doubt which one would be preferable. But compatibility trumps slight technical advantage.

So you admit that the Minolta shoe is a better design. And compatibility can easily be achieved with an adapter. And the "standard" ISO shoes does not give compatibility with other brands of auto-flashes. If you buy into a camera system, you are forced to buy many non-compatible accessories anyway, esp. lenses. That's unfortunately the way the world works.

There was another horrendously inferior design which stayed around for decades because it was an "industry standard," despite being weak and having no locking mechanism: the PC flash connector.